TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG – SOUTH Africans wishing to travel to the United  Kingdom can now apply for documents in a more convenient way.

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has introduced a new, smarter and quicker  service to improve the process.

Known as Access UK, the new service is aimed at enhancing the current UK Visa application process and ensuring that it is simple, less admin-intensive and less stressful for customers.

Access UK is now available in South Africa for customers who wish to apply for a standard Visitor, Visitor (Marriage & Civil Partnership) or Visitor (Permitted Paid Engagement) visa.

This online service is beneficial for customers as the application form is shorter, with logically-ordered, relevant questions which are based on the customers’ feedback.

The online application form which can also be accessed on mobile devices, can also be reviewed, edited and downloaded at any point before submission. In addition, Access UK is beneficial as it allows customers to apply for a visit visa, book an appointment at a Visa Application Centre near them as well as pay online for their application through the  standard, priority or super-priority visa services.

Following the success of the service in mainland China and India, Access  UK has received extremely positive ratings and feedback from customers,  with an 8 out of 10 average rating from customers.

Improvements based on customer suggestions are also being made to the online service since its launch in China to improve the design, clarity  and flow of the service and ensure a favourable customer experience.

Access UK is provided in parallel with Visa4UK website but over time all  customers applying for visit visas to the UK will be redirected to the new  Access UK service and Visa4UK will still be available as a service for  other types of visa applications and customer groups.

South African customers applying for a visa to visit the UK have been encouraged to make use of Access UK.